


exposure therapy

by sad_goomy



Series: Lonashipping Week 2019 [2]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), F/M, First Kiss, Fluff and Humor, Lonashipping, Lonashipping Week, Post-Canon, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fic, because in my mind the sumo kids are always around 15/16 which is probably a far cry from canon, mahinashipping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-23
Packaged: 2020-07-11 10:27:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19926577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sad_goomy/pseuds/sad_goomy
Summary: Gladion recruits Moon to help him get over his fear of public speaking.Only to realize she makes him more nervous than any speech could.





	exposure therapy

The end of this week will mark six months since Gladion has officially taken over Aether. It’s not exactly a cause for celebration, considering Lillie is still off in Kanto with their mother and the board is breathing down his neck, hissing at his every wrong move. 

Wicke suggested he give a speech to the press, something quick but formal, to help smooth over the rough patches of his transition. He agreed without much thought. 

It isn’t until he’s on Moon’s porch a week before that he realizes why this might be a problem. 

“You have a fear of public speaking.” 

He cringes at the statement from his spot on her couch as Moon looks at him from the armchair in her living room. After just a few minutes of him explaining the whole situation, she’s managed to pinpoint just about his greatest insecurity. 

Even after all these months, it’s odd to him that she can read him, can see past the blank expression to the turmoil underneath. 

Still, he tries to fib, “It’s more just an aversion.” 

She raises a brow, taking in how his leg bounces and his hands fidget. “Right.” 

“What do _you_ do?” Like always, he wants to get to the heart of the matter (so long as it doesn’t involve anything with his own heart or feelings). He adds, pulling the flashcards he’s been using out of his back pocket, “I have the whole thing memorized, and I have notes, and it’s still not working. You have to address the public all the time, and I’ve never seen you get nervous.” 

Her mom’s Meowth has made his way over to them, butting his head against Moon’s leg until the girl relents and pets his head. She smiles down at the Pokémon before looking back up at Gladion, chewing her cheek in thought. “Honestly, it’s mostly been practice,” she explains, “Kukui made me take a class on it after I accepted the Champion title, but I’ve only really improved from constantly doing it.” Something flickers in her eyes and her lips curl into a mysterious smile before she adds with a shrug, “You could use me as a practice audience right now. My mom’s still on her business trip and I’m not expecting anyone, so you won’t have anyone else watching. It’ll be like exposure therapy.” 

He falters, biting at his lip and glancing down at his notecards. Somehow, presenting in front of Moon seems infinitely worse than a camera or room full of strangers. 

But Ultra Space will freeze before he admits that, so he stands and rolls his shoulders, clearing his throat to start. His grip on the flashcards tighten with every word he speaks. 

“Good afternoon. I am the current President of the Aether Foundation, Gladion. As many of you-” 

“Eye contact.” 

It’s gentle, but more than enough to get him to stop and look up at her with a pained, lopsided smile. “Do I have to?” 

"Unfortunately – it's too stiff otherwise, and you have it memorized anyway.” She pauses in petting Meowth, and the creature decides it wants to sneak off somewhere, leaving the two alone in the living room. Pulling her legs up onto the armchair, she gives him an impish wink to rival a Gengar. “You could just picture everyone in their underwear.” 

His eyes snap back down to his flashcards and he prays that he’s just imagining the heat on his cheeks. “No, I don’t think I will.” 

As much as she delights in making him squirm, she softens her gaze and settles back into her armchair, her voice soft as she tells him, “Try it again with more eye contact.” 

He does and it’s suddenly so much harder; the words seem to slowly evaporate from his memory the longer he looks into her eyes. Glancing back down at the notecards, he takes a breath and ignores how his hands shake when he looks back up. He’s used to her laser-like focus during battles, but having it on him now is doing strange things to his stomach. 

If she notices, she doesn’t say anything, only stopping him occasionally to point something out: his posture is rigid, his words are running together. Each time, he takes a deep breath and takes it from the top, but he can feel himself growing warmer under her observation. That armchair is far too close to this couch, and has her living room always been this small? He decides it’s entirely too small and she’s entirely too close when he’s halfway through his seventh unsuccessful run of the speech. 

“During this time, I – I mean, we at Aether...have...have...” 

Gladion curses under his breath, shuffling through his notes and unable to find his place. He lets out a deep sigh as he collapses back onto the sofa, wishing the cushions would just eat him alive so he doesn’t have to face this embarrassment. “This is hopeless.” 

“It’s not,” she argues, though it falls flat in the face of the past twenty minutes. Her brows furrow as she watches him, confused and slightly concerned. “Is this what it’s normally like?” 

“Arceus, no.” He lifts his head to look at her, and realizes that’s a mistake. She’s curled up in the armchair, her chin resting in her palm as she looks at him. Then his eyes fall on her mouth, to see that she’s worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, and his throat goes tight. “It’s just worse...now...for some reason.” 

She tilts her head, realizes he’s looking at a specific point on her face, sees the blush beginning to form and - 

Oh. 

_Huh._

“...do I make you nervous?” 

He doesn’t respond but his head falls back onto the couch and his jaw clenches as he stares up at the ceiling. It’s more than answer enough, and Moon’s face breaks into the largest, shit-eating grin it ever has, only fueled by the Butterfree in her chest. She laughs, “I can’t believe you’re afraid of me.” 

“I’m not afraid of you, Moon.” Despite the firmness of his tone, he refuses to look at her, and the index cards are crumpled by his iron grip. 

“Just girls in general, then?” Her tone is still playful, but her shoulders deflate. 

Gladion clears his throat, lifting his head but keeping his attention on smoothing out the wads of notecards in his hand. “We should get back to the-” 

“Have you had your first kiss?” 

The living room has never been more silent. 

He freezes, and she holds her breath, waiting for his reaction. When it doesn’t come, she has her answer (though she could tell pretty much since they first met). She swallows her own nervousness, though her voice is small as she finally breaks the tension. 

“...do you want to?” 

His eyes go wide and he fumbles with the cards, watching them fall to the floor. When he looks up at her, she’s watching him, and he can identify the amusement in her eyes, but there’s something else there. Still, he clears his throat and gathers up his notes, mumbling quickly, “I should work on my speech.” 

But she rolls her eyes, feeling the last of her trepidation dissipate when she realizes he’s infinitely more inexperienced and afraid. “You’re avoiding the question,” she teases, biting back a giggle as another index card slips out of his grasp. 

With a huff, he abandons his efforts and slams the pile of cards that he’s managed to collect onto the coffee table in front of him. He tries to puff up his chest, ignoring that the blush is definitely crawling over his ears and down his neck as he challenges, “Well do _you_ want to kiss me?” 

“Yes.” 

It flies out of her with no hesitation, surprising them both. Gladion was hoping it would throw her off, get her at least half as flustered as he’s feeling; Moon was hoping it would come out a little less desperate. 

There’s no going back, though, and she’s not one to blink in the face of a challenge. Instead, she buckles down, giving him a smirk and a chuckle. “I have for like a month now, thanks for noticing the signals.” 

It takes him a moment to remember how to breathe. “Signals?” He thinks back on the past month for anything out of the ordinary, but it’s nearly useless when he doesn’t know what to look for. “Wh-what signals?” 

“Oh you know...” She steels herself and stands up, walking up to him on the sofa and watching his face carefully. When she leans down, she swears his breath hitches, but he doesn’t move away and now her lips pull into a smile. “Getting close.” 

She reaches a hand out to stroke his arm, and his eyes snap to the contact. Still, he doesn’t say anything, and when their eyes meet again, his have dropped the anxiety and replaced it with encouragement. “The light touch.” 

Then her face is coming in closer to his, and he tilts his chin up into it until he can feel her breath against his lips. “Leaning in.” 

They’re frozen in time for a long moment, caught in the limbo of what’s been unspoken and what’s unavoidable. 

And suddenly they’re not. 

It’s a bit of a blur for him, but sensations stand out in Gladion’s mind: softness, warmth. Her hands are cupping his face, and his fingers card through her hair, and he didn’t even realize that this could be nice, that just running his hand through her hair would send a jolt of something pleasant through his body. She’s smiling against his lips, and he thinks that they’re not close enough, so he gently tugs her in by the shoulder and she obliges. 

By the end of it, she’s half-lying down on the couch and he’s looking down at her, out of breath and out of his mind wondering why he’s waited this long. 

While he slowly comes back to earth, she smiles, fingers playing with the hair on the nape of his neck. She hums in thought, and the mischief is as clear on her face as the freckles. “Okay.” 

“O-okay?” He blinks, wondering how that single word can be so enigmatic. She takes advantage of his confusion to slip out from under him, picking up the rest of the notecards from the floor. He watches, knows that she’s toying with him but taking the bait anyway as he asks with a hint of frustration, “What do you mean ‘okay?’” 

She picks up the stack of cards from the coffee table, looking over her shoulder with a coy smile. Turning to look back down at the notecards in her hands, she places them back in order as she explains, “Well, kissing – like public speaking – requires practice before you get really good at it.” 

She stands, and he watches, and she has to bite her cheek because no one’s ever looked at her with such pure awe. The trip it sends her heart on is almost enough to convince her to have mercy on him. 

Almost, but not quite, and so she hands him the index cards before she turns and plops herself back into the armchair. “Get the speech down, and then we can make out.” 

* * *

His speech goes off without a hitch, and he lets out a sigh of relief as he steps off the podium, Wicke giving him an encouraging smile as she takes his place to address the cameras. He steps into their makeshift backstage area, massaging the leftover adrenaline from his shaking left hand. 

A buzz in his pocket alerts him to a text message, and his mouth goes dry at the thought of who it has to be. 

**From: Moonbeam [17:31]**   
_well you certainly didn’t look afraid of public speaking_   
_on tv_

**From: Moonbeam [17:32]**   
_still afraid of girls?_

And he’s already leaving, passing by a few confused employees as he pulls the ride pager out with one hand and types a response with his other. 

**From: Gladiolus [17:34]**   
_I think I’m due for another round of exposure therapy_

**Author's Note:**

> and here's day 2 of lonashipping week, fear! decided to twist it into a fluffy one because tomorrow is...hoo boy it's dark
> 
> gladion tries to be cool but moon is the real smooth operator thank you for coming to my ted talk


End file.
